Archive for the ‘History’ Category

One of the oldest sources of entertainment, a combo of games that involve not just players but most importantly money, has a history of making millionaires as well as turning many of them bankrupt, gambling is an activity with a difference. Since time memorial gambling is the favorite pastime of people across the globe. For some gambling is the best means to merry-making whereas for countless others it is the ideal way to make huge amount of effortless money in a short while.

With the passage of time, gambling has taken many forms. In early years gambling was all about throwing dice and shuffling cards. But now there are several different versions of gambling such as slot machines, gambling online, betting on horse and car races etc. This has not just introduced gambling in almost every corner of the world but has also popped up the number of gaming aficionados throughout.

Since the lure of gambling is escalating day-by-day, print as well as media has started taking keen interest in informing people about various aspects of gambling. One such really hot info on gambling is about gambling stories.

Like any other game there are numerous tales (true and fictional) associated with gambling too. In fact gambling can be said to have maximum number of stories hanging behind. While on the one hand these stories largely amuse the public on the other hand the stories generate good business for print and media. These channels of information and entertainment make huge amount of money by presenting the actual stories in some different forms or by developing one of their own stories. So what more can one expect from gambling but that it can fetch money even though you do not actually gamble.

Since gambling is an exciting and precarious subject, several interesting stories are associated and can be formulated on it. It is seen that by and large gambling tales intrigue human beings. For what can be more exciting than knowing how various scandals that have rocked the world of sports or politics occurred or the stories that involving people who were once quite famous.

The enticement of gambling stories is depicted from the fact that movies made on them such as Oceans 11 did remarkably well and turned out to be big blockbusters. Moreover in this era when reality shows dominate the entire tube world, banking on the obsession and vogue for gambling stories, ESPN could come up with a fiction based program, Tilt. Tilt was the creation of the writers of the popular gambling movie Rounders. This show featured a plot based around the group that is described as a group of lowlifes. These lowlifes were in turn nicely manipulated or governed by a powerful person.

It is due to the intense liking of people that producers keep repeating this theme in different shows. Similarly in the literary world the 19th century English novel, Gambling by Michael Flavin turned out to be a great success. The book presented different sides of gambling, something that could be cited in the novels written on gambling in 1800s.

Normally getting your assets frozen would be a bad thing, but it’s not anymore. Frozen Assets is a 3-reel slot machine and it’s quite cool to play.

Frozen Assets can be played in one of five denominations. The machine will take nickels, quarters, fifty cents, dollars and five dollars. I was a little sad to see pennies weren’t an option. I like playing pennies when I want to unwind or test out a new casino game.

So, you have your typical three reels here. The idea is to build a snowman. He looks like Frosty the snowman. Every time you get a snowflake on the payline-with max coins played-you’ll fill up your snowman with snow a little more.

As you get snowflakes and build your personal snowman, your snowflake meter will increase. It’s located just below the snowman on the paytable display. Once your snowman is built and your snowflake meter is at or above 200, you win the snowman bonus.

However, Frozen Assets isn’t all positive. The reels also contain sun icons. When you receive a sun icon-again playing max credits-you’ll lose one point from the number above the snowman. You still will get a credit to your snowman bonus meter, so it’s not a complete loss.

In case you’re wondering, the snowman bonus starts off at 500. You’ll build up that nice bonus pot from there. Once you win it, the snowman bonus defaults back to 500.

Frozen Assets also has a wild symbol. It’s the penguin. The penguin icon can count as any symbol on the payline except for the snowflake and sun icons.

As you might expect, to win the big payday on Frozen Assets, you need to score three 7′s on the payline.

Playing this game is easy. It’s not an advanced slot machine. It’s just above your normal slot machine, because of the added bonus game involved. If you don’t want an advanced video slot machine, but don’t want the traditional one-armed bandit, Frozen Assets will fit the bill.

Like I said, the game is easy to play. After selecting your denomination, you select the number of credits to play. Frozen Assets has one payline that’s straight across the center of the screen. That’s another reason why I graded this game just above the traditional slot machine. There aren’t 30+ paylines involved.

Remember to always play max coins. If you don’t, why are you playing? You can’t unlock the special snowman game or the big jackpot if you play anything less than max coins. And unlike some other slot machines, this one only takes three credits to max out.

There have been many casino players throughout history who became famous as a result of gambling. Although the following persons did not necessarily achieve fame through gambling, they did nevertheless attract a significant degree public attention as a result of their gambling activities.

One of the first famous gamblers in the world was John Montagu, the Earl of Sandwich. He led a scandalous private life and was addicted to gambling. In 1762, he sat for over 24 hours at a gaming table in his home, refusing to attend meals. In desperation, a servant offered the Earl a piece of salted beef as food; the Earl suggested that the beef be encased between two slices of bread so that he could eat it in his hand at the table. This is where the sandwich got its name.

One of the West’s most famous gamblers was “Doc” Holliday, who maintained a fierce reputation as a hard drinker, tough fighter and ruthless killer. He is chiefly remembered for fighting alongside Wyatt Earp at the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

“Wild Bill” Hickok was another American legend, renowned throughout the world for the tall tales surrounding his violent life. He’s chiefly remembered for taming two of the most lawless towns in Kansas. Unfortunately, Hickok made many enemies and his day of judgment came at a poker table. He was shot in the back of the head by an assassin and died clutching a pair of aces and a pair of eights; ever since, this particular hand has been known as the ‘Dead Man’s’ hand for obvious reasons!

Benny Binion was born in 1904 and lived his life as a bootlegger and conman. At the age of 43, he gave up his life of crime and moved to Las Vegas, where he later opened his own casino. Binion was the gambler’s gambler, and in the 1970s he bought and marketed the World Series of Poker tournament, which has grown over time to be the biggest in the world.

Magazine owner Kerry Packer made his name through his family’s media empire, which owns 60% of all magazines in Australia. Packer became known as a high-stakes gambler when he won $26 million playing blackjack at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. However, Packer has not always been successful; he lost $16.5 million at the Crockfords casino in London, although this barely dented his $8 billion fortune.

The World Series of Poker tournament has created many famous gamblers of today. One such example is Johnny Chan, nicknamed “The Great Wall of China” after his amazing success winning the World Championships in 1987 and 1988 consecutively. He’s played in all the major games of the last two decades and is also known as a genuinely nice guy.

Although gambling is primarily a recreational activity, many people have approached it with a different mindset, and as a result, made and lost vast fortunes with it, while becoming famous along the way.